42 Novelisation
by Josman
Summary: The Doctor and Martha find themselves trapped on a spaceship about to crash into a sun. And they have 42 minutes to save it.
1. 44:12

****Disclaimer****: My unbroken run of non-Doctor Who ownership continues unblemished.****

**42**

_Remember kids, always check to make sure that the star you're using as a fuel source isn't sentient...-_ TV Tropes

**Chapter 1: 44:12**

Martha had a very good reason to be pleased now. The Doctor had finally agreed to take her on properly, not just keep saying "one more trip." all the time. Perhaps he was happier to have her around than she'd thought. He was finally moving on from losing Rose.

As an added bonus, he'd said he could upgrade her phone, now that she'd be staying a bit longer. Since hers was a more advanced model than Rose's it was a simpler job. A few minutes installing software with the sonic screwdriver and she was set to go.

"Universal roaming." He said. "Never have to worry about signal again."

"No way!" She grinned. "This is too mad. Are you telling me I can phone anyone, anywhere in space and time on my mobile?"

"If you have the area code." He shrugged. "Frequent flyers' privilege. Go on, try it."

Before she got a chance, they were distracted by the TARDIS juddering.

"Distress signal." The Doctor read off the scanner. "Locking on. Might be a bit of..." With a jolt, they fell to the floor. "...turbulence. Sorry. Come on Martha, let's take a look."

The moment they opened the door, they were hit by what felt like a wall of heat. The Doctor stepped out into a massive metallic room. The floor vibrations told him it was a spaceship of some kind.

Martha had never been in a spaceship before, besides the TARDIS. She'd assumed the interiors would be sleek and clean, with buttons flashing on the wall. This one looked more like a submarine, with the uneven floors and the exposed bolts. Worse still, it looked like a submarine that was past its best. Everything was filthy and the paint on almost every surface was peeling off. And then there was the heat.

"Whuf. It's like a sauna in here!" She said.

The Doctor pointed to a collections of openings overhead, several of which were emitting steam. "Ventilation systems, working overtime to cool down the ship. You know what they say, if you can't stand the heat..." He spotted a bulkhead labelled _Area 29_. And led Martha through. It was cooler on the far side, but not much. More like the heat from a crowded room.

Seconds later, three people in overalls came running. "Hey you two!" Shouted the man who was leading.

"Get out of there!" Shouted the woman.

They did so, and the man slammed the bulkhead behind them, twisting the handle.

The woman stared them down. "What do you think you're doing on my ship?"

"Are you the police?" Said the man.

"We answered your distress call." Said The Doctor, pointing to a screen which read, _Automated distress call transmitted._

"Why would you think we're police?" Said Martha.

"If this is a ship, why can't I hear any engines?" Said the Doctor.

"They went dead four minutes ago." Said the woman, deciding it wasn't the time to question them.

"Which is why, we should get to engineering." The second man insisted.

"_Secure closure activated_." Said the computer. A series of thumps echoed through the halls.

"The ship's gone mad." Said the second man.

A smaller woman, with Erina written on her sleeve, came hurrying through from section 28. "Who activated secure closure?" She shouted. "I almost got trapped in section 27! She spotted the newcomers for the first time. Who are you?"

"He's the Doctor. I'm Martha."

"_Impact projection: Impact in 42 minutes and twenty seven seconds._" Said the computer. Martha went to a viewport to have a better look.

"We're going to make it through this, I promise." Said the captain.

"Doctor." Martha called from the window.

"Impact with what?" He said.

"Doctor!" She shouted, and he came running.

Outside was a massive sphere, burning fiercely white in fusion reaction. They were about to crash into the sun.

"How many crewmembers?" He said to the captain.

"7." She replied.

"We transport cargo across the galaxy." The first man elaborated. "Everything's automated. We just keep the ship space worthy."

As he spoke, the Doctor ran up to the bulkhead he'd just come through and wrenched the door open. "Get all of them up here!"

"No!" They all shouted, but too late. He pulled the door open. A burst of flame shot out and knocked him down. Erina pulled her welder's mask on and closed it again.

She took a look at the readout next to it. "The temperature's going crazy in there. Up 3000 degrees!"

"My spaceship's in there!" He shouted.

"In the vent chamber?" Said a crewmember.

"...It's a lifeboat."

"It's lava."

The Doctor pondered. The TARDIS heat shields would outlast a rust bucket like this, but he couldn't get to it until the vents were under control. "We fix the engines and steer this ship away then. Engineering's this way, isn't it?"

* * *

><p><em>40:27<em>

"Blimey." Said the Doctor, as he got a look at the engine room. "Do you always leave things in such a mess?"

The engine now resembled something that had been through a car crusher. Bits of metal and components lay around it.

"Someone's wrecked it." Said the engineer.

"And pretty efficiently too." Said the Doctor. "Someone knew what they were doing."

"Where's Korwin?" Said the Captain, who was known as McDonnell. "Has anyone heard from him or Ashton?"

The rest of the crew shook their heads.

Martha picked over the wreckage, as the Doctor looked at the scanner by the engine. "You mean someone did this on purpose?"

But McDonnell was more concerned with another problem. She went over to the intercom. "Korwin, Ashton. Report please. He should be here, where is he?"

The Doctor, meanwhile, had found some information on the screen. "We're in the Toraiji System! Lovely. You're a long way from home Martha. Half the universe away."

"Yeah, feels it." She nodded.

"And you're still using energy scoops for fusion?" He rounded on McDonnell. "Hasn't that been outlawed?" Energy scoops were a method of igniting a fusion reaction by flying close to a star and capturing part of the reaction from there. Someone had apparently wrecked the engine mid way through their pass. Now there was no power to escape the gravitational pull.

She shared an awkward look with her chief engineer. "We're due an upgrade next docking. Scannell, engine report."

Scannell found another console and pressed some buttons. Almost everything he pressed beeped in a way that seemed to indicate error. "Non responsive." He said. He went to look at the main controls. "They've burnt out. Someone's sabotaged them too. I can't get back online."

Martha was starting to wish she'd just stayed at home when the Doctor had dropped her off. She knew she was pushing her luck with each trip she went on.

"Come on, there must be auxiliary engines." Said the Doctor. "Every craft's got auxiliaries."

"We don't have access from here. The auxiliary controls are in the front of the ship." Said McDonnell.

"Yeah, with twenty nine password sealed doors between us and them." Scannell added. "You'll never get there in time."

"Can't you override the doors?" said Martha.

"No. Sealed closure means what it says. They're all dead-lock sealed."

"So a sonic screwdriver's no use." Said the Doctor.

"Nothing's any use. We've got no engines, no time, and no chance." Scannell sighed.

"Oh, listen to you. Defeated before you've even started. Where's your Dunkirk spirit? Who's got the door passwords?" Said the Doctor.

"They're randomly generated. Reckon I know most of them. Sorry. Riley Vashti."

"Then what're you waiting for, Riley Vashti? Get on it."

"Well, it's a two person job. One, a technish for the questions, and the other to carry this. He grabbed a huge rucksack off a shelf, along with a big clunky clamp. "The oldest and cheapest security system around, eh, Captain?"

"Reliable and simple, just like you, eh, Riley?" She smiled.

"Try and be helpful, get abuse. Nice."

"I'll help you. Make myself useful." Said Martha.

"It's remotely controlled by the computer panel. That's why it needs two." Riley led her away.

"Oi. Be careful." The Doctor called after her.

"You too." She grinned.

A voice came over the intercom. "McDonnell, it's Ashton. Are you there?"

McDonnell hurried over and hit the button. "McDonnell here. Is Korwin there? Is he Ok?"

"I think you should come up to the med centre." Ashton replied.

* * *

><p><em>34:30<em>

In the med centre, a bald man and a woman in scrubs were trying desperately to restrain a man thrashing in agony on the table.

"Korwin. It's Abi." She said. "I just need a look in your eyes." She was shouting.

"Help me! It's burning me!" He roared.

"How long's he been like this?" Said the Doctor.

"I don't know." Said Abi. "Ashton's just brought him in."

The Doctor ran his sonic over the man. "Don't get too close."

"But he's my husband!" Said the Captain.

"And he's just sabotaged the ship." Said Ashton.

"What!"

"He went mad. Activated the secure lock. then set the pulse to melt the controls."

"No! He would never do that!"

"I saw it happen."

As they tried to hold Korwin down, the Doctor tried to get his attention. "Korwin, Korwin. Could you just look at me a second?"

"I can't!" He screamed.

"Course you can!" The Doctor said cheerily.

"Don't make me look at you! Please!"

"Ok. Ok." He took a hypo gun from a table. "Sedative?" He said to Abi, who nodded. "Good." And he injected it into the neck. Korwin promptly went limp.

"What's wrong with him?" Said McDonnell.

The Doctor looked at his sonic. "Rising body temperature. Unusual energy readings." He noticed the device behind him. "Stasis chamber. I do love a good stasis chamber. Keep him sedated in there. Regulate the body temperature. And, just for fun, run a bio scan and tissue profile on a metabolic detail."

"Already doing it." Said Abi.

"Good. Has anyone else displayed these symptoms?"

"Not so far."

"Well that's one good thing."

"Will someone please tell me what's wrong with him?" Said McDonnell.

"Some sort of infection." The Doctor shrugged. "We'll know a bit more when the test results come in. Anyway. Engine room. Alonn-sy." Ashton went, but McDonnell seemed reluctant to leave Korwin. "Hey, look at those engines. Come on. Go."

Reluctantly, she followed the others out.

* * *

><p><em>32:50<em>

Riley typed away at a keypad. "Hurry up will you?" Said Martha.

The system beeped reassuringly. "Right, fix the clamp on." He said.

The clamp had a round slot on one side, spotting a round tab in the centre of the door, Martha shoved them together. "What are you typing?"

"The codes are a set of random question set by the crew. Nine tours back, we got drunk, thought 'em up. Reckoned if we ever got boarded, we're the only ones who know all the answers."

"So you just have to key in the right answer then?"

"But we only get one try per door. Get it wrong, the whole system freezes."

"Better not get it wrong then." Martha could see several flaws in that system, but reminded herself that it had been put together whilst drunk.

"Okay. Date of SS Pentallian's first flight. That's all right." He keyed in some figures. "Go!"

Martha shoved the door and it came open.

"28 more to go!" Riley grinned.

* * *

><p><em>32:12<em>

The Doctor was looking at the readouts from the ship. The solar shields were at 22%, but they should hold for the time being. They'd been designed to sustain the ship until it crossed the sun's gravity threshold. After that, there had seemed little point keeping the ship intact, since the engines wouldn't be powerful enough to escape. The counter or the threshold showed rougly how long it would last. And it was counting ever down.

Turning his attention to their other problem briefly, he hit the intercom for the med bay. "Abi, how's Korwin doing?"

"He's under heavy sedation." She replied. "I'm still trying to make sense of these bio readings."

He pressed another button. "Martha, how're you doing?"

"Section 29 and door 28."

"Yeah, you've got to move faster."

"We're doing our best."

Riley keyed in some more figures. "Give the next number in the sequence 313, 331, 367. What?"

"You said the crew knew all the answers!" Said Martha.

"The crew's changed since we set the questions."

"You are joking!"

"379." Said the Doctor.

"What?"

"It's a sequence of happy primes. 379."

"Happy what?"

"Just enter it!"

"Are you sure?" Said Riley. "We only get one chance."

"Any number that reduces to one when you take the sum of the square of its digits. And you continue iterating until it yields one is a happy number Any number that doesn't, isn't. A happy prime is a number that is both happy and prime. Now type it in! I don't know, talk about dumbing down! Don't they teach recreational mathematics anymore?" The Doctor sighed.

Riley keyed in 379. To his surprise it worked. "Let's keep moving."

"And Martha." Said the Doctor. "Be careful. There may be something else on board the ship."

"Any time you wanna unnerve me, feel free." She groaned.

"Will do."

Riley brought up the next question. "Oh, this is a nightmare. Classical music: Who had the most pre-download number 1s. Elvis Presley or the Bee-atles? How the hec are we supposed to know that?"

"I can't believe my life depends on some stupid pub quiz." Said Martha.

* * *

><p><em>30:50<em>

The Doctor looked over the frazzled clump of wiring. It was clearly beyond repair. "We'll need to bypass this somehow." He looked round at the crew. "Resources, what have we got. Think!"

"Doctor." Martha's voice came on the intercom. "Who had the most number 1s. Elvis or the Beatles? That's pre-downloads."

"Elvis. No! The Beatles. No! What about that remix? Oh... I don't know. I'm a bit busy."

"I'll ask someone else then." Said Martha.

"Right." Said the Doctor. "Where was I? Here comes the sun. No!" He shook that train of thought off. "Recourses, what have we got? Ooh! The power's still going. That means the generator's still working. If we can harness that..." He paused, so as to get the crew thinking.

"We can use the generator to jumpstart the ship!" Said McDonald.

"Exactly." He grinned. "At the very least it may buy us some time."

"That's brilliant."

"See... Glimmer of hope."

"If it works." Muttered Scannell.

"Trust me." Said McDonald. "You're gonna make it work."

* * *

><p><em>29:46<em>

Martha listened to the phone ringing. To her amazement, her mum's voice said "Hello."

"Mum! Wow. Um..." Martha bit back her excitement.

"Where are you?" Francine groaned. "Don't you check your messages. I have been calling all night!"

"Actually a bit busy, I need you to do something for me."

"No, you need to listen to me!" She snapped. "We need to talk about thins Doctor."

"Mum please, not now. I need you to look something up on the internet."

"Do it yourself, you've got a computer."

"Oh just do it will you!" She shouted, then hastily added. "Please?"

Francine sighed. "And when did you get so rude. Ever since you met that man..."

"I need to know who had more number 1s." Martha cut her off before she could continue. "Elvis, or The Beatles."

"Hold on the mouse is unplugged... Ok sorted. What is this, a pub quiz?"

"Yes." Said Martha, hoping the hiss from the cooling vents, the metallic echoes from the walls and the lack of pub atmosphere couldn't be heard over the phone.

"Using your phone's cheating."

"Have you found it yet?"

"The signal's a bit low. Give me a minute."

* * *

><p><em>28:50<em>

The Doctor was looking over the engine, trying to think how best to connect the generator up without stripping the cylinders bare, when Abi's voice came over the intercom.

"Doctor, these readings are starting to scare me."

"What do you mean?"

"Korwin's body's changing. His whole biological make up, it's impossible."

* * *

><p><em>28:38<em>

As Abi spoke, she glanced at a steel pan on a shelf and saw Korwin rising from the slab. He turned to face her with his eyes shut.

"This is med centre." She said. "Urgent assistance required. Urgent!" Whatever was happening to him, it couldn't be good. And she knew from experience that she wasn't strong enough to stop mentally unhinged patients.

* * *

><p><em>28:24<em>

The Doctor ran for the room, shouting to the others to stay and keep working on the engine. McDonald and Scannel ignored him and ran for the med centre themselves.

"I only take orders from one person round here, Doctor." He explained.

"Oh, is he always this cheery?" The Doctor sighed.

* * *

><p><em>28:02<em>

"Abi, they're on their way." Said Erina's voice.

Abi backed into the corner, with Korwin between her and the door. She did the only thing she could and talked to him. "Korwin. What's the matter? What's happening to you?"

"BURN WITH ME." He said in a deep, rumbling voice, not his own, which echoed through the ship. "BURN WITH ME."

* * *

><p><em>27:55<em>

"Elvis." Said Francine.

"What?" Said Martha, who'd been intently listening to the voice demanding she burn with it. "Elvis, are you sure?"

Riley went to key it in.

* * *

><p><em>27:50<em>

"BURN WITH ME." He growled again.

"Korwin, you're sick." Abi pleaded.

He opened his eyes. For a second, they just looked like white lanterns, then Abi got a feeling as though someone had focused every heater in the system at her. It only took a second more and she felt nothing.


	2. 27:44

**Chapter 2: 27:44**

"Now." Said Francine. "We need to have a serious talk about..."

Her mother's voice was cut off as a blood curdling scream echoed through the ship.

"What was that?" Said Francine, after a moment's silence.

"I'll have to call you back." Said Martha

* * *

><p><em>27:40<em>

Korwin could feel the floor beneath him beginning to sag from the heat radiating off from him. To stop himself dropping out of the ship, he pulled on the heat suit he'd been wearing shortly before he'd changed. Complete with the helmet and the eye shield.

* * *

><p><em>27:15<em>

"Doctor," Martha's voice came over the intercom, "what were those screams?"

"Concentrate on those doors." Said the Doctor. "You need to keep moving forward."

They'd reached the med centre now. Rushing in, they found the room deserted.

"Oh my God." Said Scannell, starring at the far wall.

They looked over themselves. A large patch of the wall was scorched black. The only clear patch was a silhouette of a human figure, with the arms held up as though it was shielding itself. A small pile of ash lay on the floor next to it.

"Tell me that's not Lerner." Said Scannell.

The Doctor pulled on his glasses to get a better look at the burn. "Endothermic vaporisation. I've never seen one this ferocious. Burn with me."

"That's what we heard Korwin say!" Said Scannell.

"What?" Said McDonnell, struggling to comprehend it. "Do you think... He wouldn't. Scannel tell him! He can't vaporise people, he's human!"

But the Doctor had found a print out on a table. "These bio scan results. Internal temperature, one hundred degrees! Body oxygen replaced by hydrogen! Your husband hasn't been infected, he's been overwhelmed."

McDonnell snatched the sheets off him. "The test results are wrong!"

"What is it though?" The Doctor wondered aloud. "Some sort of parasite. It would need a host body but..."

"Stop talking like he's some sort of experiment!" McDonnell snapped.

"Where's the ship been? Have you made planet fall recently?" The two of them shook their heads. "Docked with any other vessels? Any sort of contact?"

"What is this an interrogation?"

"I need to stop him before he kills again."

She took a deep breath. "We're just a cargo ship." She turned away to put her face in her hands.

"Doctor, if you have a minute." Said Scannel

"I'm fine." She shook herself off. "I need to warn the crew." She went over and hit the intercom. "Attention everybody. Something has infected Korwin. We think..." She gulped. "He killed Abi Lerner. None of you must go near him. Is that clear?"

* * *

><p><em>25:32<em>

"Understood Captain." Ashton's voice came over the intercom. "Erina, get back here with that equipment, quickly."

Erina cut off the communicator and muttered in frustration. Several years studying advanced astro-mechanics, so many credits invested in her education, all so she could pass Ashton tools and read off dials for him. She wanted her credits back.

"Please, kill me now." She muttered.

"BURN WITH ME." Growled Korwin.

Erina spun round to see him towering over her. She backed into a corner and held up the wrench she was holding to defend herself.

Korwin reached up and lifted the visor on his mask. A blinding mass of light shot out and began to sear the girl's skin.

* * *

><p><em>24:51<em>

"Is the infection permanent?" Said McDonnell.

The Doctor thought for a long time. "I don't know."

"_Don't lie to me _Doctor. 11 years we've been married. We chose this ship together. He keeps me honest. So I _don't want false hope_."

He sighed. "The parasite's too aggressive. Your husband's gone. I'm sorry."

"Thank you."

"Are you sure there was nothing that might have provoked this? No one was working on anything secret? Because it's _vital_ that you tell me."

"I know every little detail about my crew's lives. If anything happened, I would have noticed it." She said stiffly.

"Then why is it so interested in you?"

"I wish I knew."

* * *

><p><em>23:58<em>

After correctly guessing the last time the New York Yankees had won the North American Cricket Cup, Riley and Martha were through to area 17. Two fifths of the way there.

* * *

><p><em>23:50<em>

Ashton fiddled with all the bolts he could without the necessary wrenches. He'd already disassembled and reassembled this engine so many times since he'd joined the crew and he knew all the ins and outs. Once the Doctor had planted the idea in his mind of how to proceed, it had been relatively simple to work it out. All he needed was the right tools, which his useless crewmate was taking her time over.

Finally he heard footsteps. "You got those tools Erina? 'cos I'm..."

Warm hands grabbed his ankles and dragged him out from under the engine. Korwin grabbed him by the shoulders and hauled him to his feet.

"Korwin." He said. "It's me. Ashton. We're mates!"

"THEY ARE GETTING TOO FAR. WE MUST SHARE THE LIGHT."

He pressed his hands against the sides of the mechanic's head. Even through the gloves, he could feel the heat burning through. Almost digging his way into his skull, flooding his mind with new images.

* * *

><p><em>23:00<em>

The ship was getting hotter as more and more of the coolant was diverted to keeping the outer hull intact. It now felt more like the rainforest in the middle of summer. Any damp patch was rising up in puffs of steam.

"Philosophy:" Riley read off the screen. "Douglas Adams believed what to be the answer to the great question of life the universe and everything?"

Before he could answer, he heard footsteps approaching "Who's there?" He said nervously.

A figure walked through the steam, clad in a heat suit.

"Is that Korwin?" Said Martha.

Riley squinted as it came closer then sighed in relief. "No, it's Ashton. Ashton, what're you doing here?"

"BURN WITH ME." Said Ashton.

"Well, if you wanna help..."

"BURN WITH ME! BURN WITH ME!" He reached to lift up the visor.

"Move!" Martha shouted. She looked at the still locked bulkhead behind her and the second door to her left and made a split second choice, hitting the large button that said open on it and dragging Riley through. The door closed behind them.

Ashton's head appeared in the window in the door and opened his visor. Though the door kept the heat from radiating in, the bright light passed through and begun to heat up the tiny passageway like a greenhouse.

"We've got to keep moving." Said Riley, opening a smaller door behind them, which they scrambled through. This one had a window also, but it was tinted to the extent that Ashton's glowing eyes had no effect. He seemed to acknowledge this and rolled his visor back down.

"What is happening on this ship?" Said Riley.

"Never mind that. Where are we?" Said Martha, as she watched a second sheet of glass slide across the door.

"_Airlock sealed. Jetison engaged._" Said the computer.

"That doesn't mean us!"

As Riley hurriedly jabbed at a keypad, Martha hit an intercom button. "Doctor! We're in an escape pod. One of the crew's trying to jettison us! You've got to help us!" She turned to Riley. "Tell me you can stop it."

* * *

><p><em>21:40<em>

Passing by the equipment store, the Doctor, McDonnell and Scannel had felt an even greater concentration of heat wafting out and paused to investigate when Martha's voice had come through.

"Why is this happening!" The Captain cried.

"Stay here!" The Doctor shouted. "And I really mean it this time! Jump start those engines!" And with that, he ran off.

The other two took a look at Erina's silhouette on the wall. "It's picking us off." Said McDonnell. "One by one."

* * *

><p><em>21:24<em>

Riley found the right command and the computer announced "_Jettison held._" He and Martha sat back, relieved.

Ashton hit some buttons on the keypad to his right. "_Jettison reactivated._" Said the computer.

Martha screamed and hammered on the locked door, while Riley whacked at the keypad even more furiously than before.

* * *

><p><em>21:05<em>

The Doctor had to dodge around all sorts as he charged through the ship, and not just steam. With so much power being diverted to the heat shields, other systems were starting to fluctuate, causing the lights to flicker and sudden bursts of wind to shoot out of the vents in his face.

As he ran through section 21, he discovered that the gravity was fluctuating too. And in this section, it was operating at 0.2g. His furious pace caused him to fly up and whack the ceiling, before drifting down to the floor. Running suddenly got much harder and he was forced to moonwalk forward at a snail's pace.

* * *

><p><em>21:00<em>

"Tsilpinski sequence. This'll get him." Said Riley.

"_Jettison stabilised_." Said the computer.

Martha saw Ashton's head tilt as though he was genuinely baffled by this. "You are pretty good."

Ashton pulled a screwdriver from his belt and pried the control panel from the wall.

* * *

><p><em>20:35<em>

"Ashton?" McDonnell called around the engine room, upon finding the engine room deserted.

Scannel, meanwhile, was looking over the engine, which was suddenly even more frazzled than before. "Someone's wrecked the electronics. I won't be able to jump start the ship now!" He kicked the nearest panel in frustration at the direction his life had taken. He'd been promised excitement adventure and really wild things when his partner had first led him on board. Said partner had then run off with some other man two tours later and was probably sitting in a nice bar with them, somewhere, laughing, while he was about to die in the heart of a star.

As he went to pace angrily, McDonnell spotted another figure coming through the stream. "Korwin?" But she was under no illusions as to his true nature. She backed away as he advanced. "What are you? Why are you attacking my crew? What did you do to him? What did you do to my husband?"

Korwin stopped suddenly and tilted his head.

"You recognised me!" She cried. "It's Kath. Your wife."

"MY... WIFE?"

She suddenly felt a glimmer of hope. "That's right! You're still in there! I'm your wife."

He thought for a moment. "IT'S YOUR FAULT!"

* * *

><p><em>19:32<em>

The Doctor had bounced through two sections before the gravity restored itself, dropping him to the floor. He picked himself up and sprinted the rest of the way.

Up ahead, Ashton had discovered the circuit board used for activating the jettison sequence and pulled it out. At the same time, pulling out one of the less useful copper wires.

"That's enough! What are you up to? Why this ship? Tell me!"

Ashton used the heat from his hand to fuse the two ends of the wire across where the control chip went, then turned to block the Doctor.

Riley took one look at the screen and cried out in despair. "He's hardwired the circuit. I can't stop it. I can't stop it!"

* * *

><p><em>19:07<em>

"What do you mean it's my fault?" Said McDonnell.

"IT'S YOUR FAULT. NOW BURN WITH ME." He reached up to lift his visor, but was abruptly hit by a jet of gas and screamed in agony.

McDonnell spun round to see Scannel turning a valve hurriedly. "What are you doing?" She shouted.

"Freezing him. Super coolant vents."

"You'll kill him!"

* * *

><p><em>18:59<em>

"Come on a bit closer." Said the Doctor, as Ashton approached. "I wanna find out what you really are."

Ashton stepped up so that he and the Doctor were toe to toe. He reached for the visor on his helmet.

* * *

><p><em>18:39<em>

Korwin's screams got quieter and more feeble until he finally collapsed to the ground.

* * *

><p><em>18:37<em>

At that exact same moment, Ashton also doubled over in pain. Once he'd recovered, he stepped around the Doctor and went elsewhere.

The Doctor decided not to follow right now. Instead, he hit an intercom button. " Ashton's been infected, just like Korwin."

"Korwin's dead, Doctor." Said Scannel.

The Doctor pondered this. Ashton had keeled over at around the same time Korwin must have died. Had he felt his pain? Was this infection in some way connecting them telepathically?

But he couldn't think for long, because at this point, a voice announced "_Decompression complete. Jettisoning pod._"

He rushed up to the window and looked through, to see Martha furiously banging on the glass, her face overjoyed to see him there.

"Doctor!" Martha shouted.

"It's too late Martha, he can't hear you." Said Riley.

And then the Doctor's face was getting smaller as the pod drifted away from the airlock, and away from the hull. But as she drifted away towards the sun, she saw him mouth one last thing. "I'll save you."

* * *

><p><strong>Author's notes: It occurred to me, timing everything, that Korwin walks to Martha and Riley in less than half the time it takes the Doctor to run the same distance. I presume something must have delayed him off screen. Hence why I wrote it in.<strong>


	3. 17:05

**Chapter 3: 17:05**

"What did he mean by this is your fault?" Said Scannell.

McDonnell didn't respond, she was simply kneeling down by the frost covered body that had been her husband an hour beforehand.

As she reached out to touch his face, Scannell quickly grabbed her arm. "Don't touch him! He's infected. We don't know how it spreads."

The Captain was holding back tears. "You killed him."

"It wasn't Korwin any more. There was no saving him, The Doctor said so."

"You don't know that!" She snapped. "None of us do! He recognised me when I spoke!"

"What are you gonna do? Sit there 'till we burn? 'cos we need you now!"

It was true that things were heating up in every sense of the word. It was getting to the point where you could fry an egg off any metallic surface.

The Doctor's voice came over the intercom. "Scannell, I need to know how to boost the magnetic lock on the ship's hull around the escape pods."

"You need to operate the controls outside the ship." Said Scannell.

The Doctor was silent for a moment. "Why are the controls outside the ship?"

"I don't know, I didn't design it!"

"Right. Well... Just bring a spacesuit to area 17, NOW!"

"Well do what he says." Said McDonnell.

"Ashton's still out there."

"I'll deal with him." She replied, with a conviction that told him she fully intended to.

* * *

><p><em>16:14<em>

The interior of the escape pod was heating up much faster than the main ship. It felt more like a greenhouse in the middle of the Sahara. But Riley was strangely optimistic. The whole thing would split apart long before they could cook and they'd die a quick death in a few minutes time.

Through the solar shielded windows, they could see rivers of hydrogen rising from the sun, large enough to swallow up the earth several times over. Each one glowing white hot.

"The irony of space travel." Said Riley. "The prettier it is, the more likely it is to kill you."

"The Doctor will save us." Said Martha.

"No, it's too late." He shook his head. "Our heat shields will pack in any minute, and then we go into free fall. We'll fall into the sun way before he has a chance to do anything."

"You don't know the Doctor. I believe in him."

"You're lucky. I've never found anyone I could believe in."

Martha looked back at him. "No girlfriend... or boyfriend?"

"Job doesn't lend itself to stable relationships."

"Family then?"

"My dad's dead, and I haven't seen my mum in six years. She didn't want me to sign up for cargo tours. Things were said, and since then, all silent. She wanted to hold on to me, I know that. Oh, she's so stubborn." In the back of his mind, he'd always been thinking up ways to make amends with her the next time they made port. Now it seemed he'd never get the chance.

"Yeah, well, that's families." Said Martha.

"What about you?"

"Full works. Mum, Dad, Dad's girlfriend, brother, sister. No silence there. So much noise. Oh, God! They'll never know! I-I'll just have disappeared, and they'll always be waiting!"

"Call them." Said Riley.

* * *

><p><em>14:30<em>

"Ashton!" McDonnell called again. She'd led him right the way through the ship from the moment she'd found him. Now he was at the bottom of the steps that led to the med centre.

He looked up to see her disappearing through the door and went in after her, only to find her out of sight.

As he looked left and right, McDonnell leapt out from under a table and jabbed him in the stomach with a wooden pole. His still human sense of pain caused him to double over.

McDonnell spun round and whacked him on the back of the head, causing him to double further, before kicking him forward with the full fury of a woman scorned. He fell into the stasis chamber and she held him in place with the end of the pole, while she hit the button that activated the deep freeze.

She sat there, listening intently to the creature's agonised screams until the display read _-273__o__C. Absolute zero._

That taken care of, she went to help the others.

* * *

><p><em>13:47<em>

Back in area 17, the Doctor was pulling on a spacesuit.

"I can't let you do this." Said Scannell.

"You're wasting your breath." Said the Doctor. "You're not going to stop me."

"You want to open an airlock on a ship in flight spinning into the sun! No one can survive that!"

"Just watch."

"Opening an airlock's suicide. This close to the sun, the shields will barely protect you."

"If I can boost the magnetic lock on the ship's exterior, it should remagnetise the pod. Now, while I'm out there, you have got to get the rest of those doors open. We need those auxiliary engines."

"Doctor! You're not listening. They're too far. You can't save them."

"I can't lose her." The Doctor stepped into the airlock.

Scannell looked at the screen by the door, indicating that decompression had begun. It also said that the shields were 10% above critical capacity. He rationally decided that the Doctor was a lost cause and went to try and save whoever was left.

* * *

><p><em>12:55<em>

It had taken Martha a lot of effort to make that call, during which she'd had to explain to explain exactly what the problem was to Riley.

"Hi Mum." She said as casually as she could manage. "Sorry about earlier."

"Is everything alright?" Said her mother.

"Yeah. I'm ok." Even if she were about to die chocking on a sandwich, she could never have explained it to her mum.

"Martha?" Her voice had given away that something clearly was the matter.

"Mum… You know I love you. Don't you."

"Of course I do. What's brought this on?"

"I never say it. I never get the time. But I really love you. Tell Dad Leo and Tish that I love them too." She felt the tears begin to spill down her face as she said this.

Francine knew more than Martha thought. She could tell her daughter was tearing up and it added further weight to all the things those people had told her about the Doctor last night.

She glanced awkwardly at the woman in black sat opposite, listening in. The woman didn't seem particularly disconcerted by what was being said.

"Promise you'll tell them?" Said Martha.

"I promise. Where are you?"

"Just out."

"With anyone nice?"

"Some mates."

"What mates?"

"Mum, can we just talk?"

Francine considered for a moment. "Alright. What do you want to talk about?"

"Anything! What you had for breakfast. What you watched on the telly last night. How much you're going to kill Dad next time you see him."

"Is the Doctor with you?" She said firmly.

"Mum, just leave it."

"It's a simple enough question. Is he there now?"

"I think I should go."

Francine looked at the woman, who gestured to the effect of _keep her talking._ "No, Martha, wait!"

"Bye Mum." She hung up and collapsed, sobbing into Riley's arms.

* * *

><p><em>11:15<em>

As the airlock finished decompressing, the Doctor took hold of a grab handle and braced himself.

The moment the door slid open, hydrogen rushed in at a rate of kilometres per second. If he hadn't been behind the wall, he would have been slammed against the back of the bay.

Once the pressure had normalised, he grabbed on to the edge of the pod and pulled himself forward. Though the ship's shields cushioned some on the effects, he still felt a bizarre sensation as the sun's gravity tried to pull him away from the hull but the solar winds pushed him back.

Praying that the wind wouldn't suddenly slacken, he held on to the doorframe with one hand and one foot and reached for the buttons that were four feet away from the door. With the sun's glare causing his visor to tint almost to capacity, the buttons were just a vague outline. But he felt along the panel, hitting the buttons second and fourth from the bottom.

But now he had a bigger problem. There was a lever he needed to pull, which was even further than the buttons. Though he knocked the cover off, he couldn't quite reach.

Though the heat shields extinguished any stream of burning hydrogen five metres from the hull, it was operating at severely reduced capacity and heat was bleeding through. Even the insulation in his spacesuit was starting to fail and he was heating up.

"How are you doing Doctor?" Scannell's voice came in his ear.

"I don't know how much longer I can last!" He cried.

"Come on! You can't give up now."

The Doctor grabbed hold of the button panel and let go of the doorframe. Now there was only a foot anchoring him in place, but it was the only way he could reach. Finally, he grabbed hold of the lever, stiff from years on non use, and pulled hard.

* * *

><p><em>9:50<em>

Martha and Riley felt a jolt as the pod abruptly reversed itself.

"He did it!" Cried Martha. "Didn't I tell you he'd do it?"

* * *

><p><em>9:43<em>

With a massive effort, the Doctor hauled himself back into the bay, then turned to look at the speck that was Martha, silhouetted against the sun. As he looked, he heard a hiss from the rising hydrogen that sounded almost like a voice. Then he realised it was a voice. The sun was alive!

* * *

><p><em>9:07<em>

McDonnell and Scannell had made it to area 10.

"Doctor, close the door! It's gonna smash into him." Said Scannell

"Take this." She handed him the clamps to attach while she ran to help any wounded they might have.

* * *

><p><em>8:57<em>

Martha clambered out of the airlock to see the Doctor crawling out of the bay ahead. He was clearly in pain.

"Doctor!" She rushed up to him. "Are you alright?"

He rolled over, his eyes blazing white. "Stay away from me!" He shouted, his voice drier than usual, before slamming his eyes shut.

More footsteps sounded as McDonnell came running.

"This is all your fault!" He shouted at her. "You ran scans on the star. You should have scanned for life!"

"Riley. Go and help Scannell, area 10. Now go!" Said McDonnell. "I don't understand. What's he saying?"

"That sun's alive! You scooped out its heart and now it's screaming!"

"How can a sun be alive? How can you know?"

"Because it's living in me! Humans! You take whatever's nearest and you bleed it dry! You should have scanned!"

"It takes too long. We'd be caught. Fusion scoops are illegal." Said McDonnell, though this didn't help the Doctor, writhing in agony.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's notes: Would anyone like to request another story for novelisation once I've finished this one?<strong>


	4. 8:01

**Chapter 4: 8:01**

The Doctor gasped in pain again. "Martha! Get me to the stasis chamber!"

"What?"

"Freeze it out of me! Below minus 200. It'll use you to kill me if you don't! Quickly!"

"Help me!" Screamed Martha. They each took the Doctor by an arm and carried him away.

* * *

><p><em>7:30<em>

The atmosphere in the ship now resembled the experience of standing next to an open oven. The star particles that had overwhelmed Korwin gained strength from the temperature rise and began to revive his body. First the fingers twitched. Then the arm. Within seconds, he was fumbling around for the heat mask McDonnell had removed.

* * *

><p><em>7:15<em>

"What's your favourite colour?" Said Scannell, as Riley ran into area 10.

"What?"

"It's the question."

"Purple." He ran to attach the clamps. "Or did I say orange?"

"Come on!"

* * *

><p><em>7:03<em>

They dragged the still thrashing Doctor into the med centre. Martha looked at the array of controls on the stasis chamber and hurried over to check the manual.

"Martha, where are you!" The Doctor cried, collapsing to the floor.

"It's alright, I've got you!" She said, grabbing his arm and helping him onto the examination bed by the chamber. "Just need to check what to do."

"You don't know how this equipment works. You'll kill him!" Cried McDonnell. "No one can survive those temperatures."

"He's not human. If he says he can survive those temperatures. I believe him."

"At least let me help you!"

"You've done enough damage!" Martha snapped.

"Ten seconds!" Said the Doctor. "That's all I'll be able to take. No more!"

"Yeah?"

"It's burning me up. I can't control it. If you don't get rid of it, I could kill you. I could kill you all. I'm scared! I'm so scared!"

"Just stay calm. You saved me, now I return the favour. Just believe in me." She reassured him.

"It's burning through me! Then what'll happen?"

"It's alright. We'll help you."

"There's this process. This thing that happens as I'm about to die." The Doctor had been meaning to get into the habit of explaining this to his companions in advance.

"Shush, quiet now." She cut him off before he could finish. "'cos that's not going to happen. Are you ready?"

"No."

She pulled a joystick and the Doctor slid back into the chamber. Martha then keyed in -200 and hit a green button.

The Doctor screamed in agony as his body temperature plummeted.

* * *

><p><em>5:35<em>

In the engine room, Korwin was pulling himself to his feet. Looking to the left, he saw a screen reading _Energy drain, med centre_. Sensing that an element of the sun particles was in danger, he went over to the fuse panel and pulled a lever, cutting off the power to the med centre.

* * *

><p><em>5:13<em>

The display had counted down to -72 and the Doctor was covered in frost. But then the machine abruptly shut down.

"No Martha, you can't stop it! Not yet!" Cried the Doctor, thinking she'd turned it off.

"Power's been cut in engineering." Said McDonnell.

"But who's down there?" Said Martha.

McDonnell took a deep breath. "Leave it to me."

* * *

><p><em>4:47<em>

Scannell and Riley correctly guessed the year of the first confirmed Dalek invasion of Earth and hurried through into area 4.

"Do you think we're gonna make it?" Said Riley.

* * *

><p><em>4:39<em>

Martha repeatedly mashed the on button in the hope that the machine would somehow get the message. "Come on! He's defrosting."

"Martha!" He shouted. "I've only got a moment! You've got to get to the front!"

"No way."

"Vent the engines. Sun particles in the fuel. Give back what they took!"

"I'm not leaving you."

"It's the only way we can survive! Go!"

"Doctor!"

"Please!"

With a massive effort, Martha turned away from him and ran.

* * *

><p><em>4:08<em>

McDonnell looked at the row of fuses and found the one that was twisted round. But before she could get to it, Korwin stepped into her way.

When he made no attempt to attack her, she held her hands up in a calm manner. "You were right. This is all my fault."

Korwin tilted his head as though thinking her words over. McDonnell tried to use this pause to make a grab for the fuse, but this spurred Korwin into action, stepping forward to block her and reaching for his visor.

McDonnell did the only thing she could think of and ran.

* * *

><p><em>3:44<em>

Martha felt as though she was actually burning up, from how fast she'd had to sprint through these superheated, stuffy corridors, dodging around obstacles and steam jets. It was also getting harder to breathe. Only the adrenalin kept her going.

* * *

><p><em>3:35<em>

McDonnell had jettisoned one of the escape pods to make it look as though she'd abandoned ship. Then ducked down against the wall of the empty airlock. It was a flimsy deception, but she just hoped that Korwin, or the sun particles wouldn't be thinking straight in their condition.

But Korwin saw through it straight away, knowing she'd be too smart to jettison herself into the sun. He pressed a button and stepped forward, blocking the only door.

"Korwin." She pleaded one last time as she backed away. "I know you're in there. Please."

"YOU MUST BURN." He growled, advancing on her.

McDonnell had backed all the way through the bay now. Feeling a panel under her hand, she realised that there was only one way out of this.

First she hit a button to close the main door, an action which distracted Korwin long enough for her to hit the intercom. "Riley, Scannell, keep going to those engines. Good luck."

"Eh?" Said Scannell.

As Ashton turned back towards her, she hit the _open airlock_ button and threw her arms around her husband one last time. "I love you." She said.

The door slid open and they went spinning off into the sun together.

* * *

><p><em>2:33<em>

"_Airlock opened."_ The computer announced.

Riley and Scannell looked at each other, stunned, for a few moments.

"We've got to keep going." Said Scannell. This is the last door.

* * *

><p><em>2:20<em>

The Doctor wasn't sure if it was him or the creature that was driving him to drag himself out of the chamber. If he was making some futile attempt to get the deep freeze going again and then crawling off in search of help, or whether the sun needed him to replace Ashton in killing the others.

After crawling down the stairs and across a room, he hauled himself up to an intercom.

* * *

><p><em>1:55<em>

As the life support systems started to fail, the ship's gravity became a lot more turbulent in intensity, making everyone feel like they were working in an earthquake.

It didn't help that fatigue was beginning to set in on Martha, which slowed her down significantly. What's more, oxygen deprivation was creating colour spots in her vision. Twice, she'd stumbled into the doorframes in her befuddled state.

"Martha!" The Doctor's voice came over the intercom.

"Doctor! What are you doing?"

"I can't fight it!"

"But what should I do?"

"You need to… Burn with me Martha! Burn with me!"

Martha suddenly got a second wind that propelled her onwards.

* * *

><p><em>1:21<em>

The final question had somehow been the hardest and required calculations which would have been relatively simple with a calculator, or even pen and paper. But were much harder to do in your head, sitting in a spaceship which was veering towards the sun.

But it had worked and the door came open. They rushed through and into the auxiliary engine room.

As the shaking intensified, Riley and Scannell clutched the appropriate consoles tightly and tried to operate the controls, but found them inoperative.

"It's not working!" Riley cried. "Why's it not working?" They could not have come this far to fail at the last hurdle.

"Vent the engines! Dump the fuel!" Shouted Martha, as she raced into the room.

"What?" Shouted Scannell.

"Sun particles in the fuel. Get rid of them. Do it now!"

They obeyed, twisting several valves open to speed up the process.

A stream of fuel shot out from the ship, igniting in a multi-coloured cloud as the gravitational forces around the sun split the particles apart.

* * *

><p><em>0:17<em>

In another part of the ship, the Doctor felt the heat that had overwhelmed his head begin to fade. The intense light shot from his eyes and dissipated in the air, the sun particles were gone.

* * *

><p><em>0:03<em>

On the screens, the infographic of the ship showed the main fuel tank emptying out. The second the ship's reserve tanks kicked in, the engines roared into life. The force of the ship powering away from the sun threw them all to the floor. They were so close to the sun that they almost got dragged in anyway. The ship hung there for a few moments, juddering unsteadily, before the boosters won out and they struggled away.

"We made it! Cried Riley. Just enough reserve to get us clear.

"Doctor!" Shouted Martha, racing down the ship to find him.

She found him hauling himself to his feet, looking exhausted but, otherwise, none the worse for ware. Unable to help it, she threw her arms round him.

* * *

><p>A few hours later and the ship was safely drifting in orbit within the habitable zone of the system. The life support systems had returned the environment to normal and the Doctor had found the TARDIS with barely a scorch mark on her.<p>

"We can't just leave you drifting with no fuel." Said Martha.

"We've put out an official distress call. The authorities should pick it up soon enough." Said Riley.

"Though not sure how we explain what's happened." Said Scannell.

"Just tell them that star needs care and protection, like any other living thing." Said the Doctor, as he stepped back into the TARDIS.

Riley caught Martha before she could follow him. "So, er, no chance I'll see you again?"

"Not really. It was nice though. Not dying with you. I reckon you'll find someone you can believe in soon enough."

"I reckon I already have." He smiled.

Martha thought for a moment then pulled him in for a kiss. "Well done. Very hot." She said once she pulled away.

She turned away from him and went back into the TARDIS. "So, didn't need you in the end, did we?" She said to the Doctor, before realising he was staring into space, clearly affected by being possessed that way. "Sorry. Are you alright?"

The Doctor didn't answer. He just changed the subject. "So… What do you say to ice skating on the mineral lakes of Kur-Ha?"

"Whatever you like." She shrugged, trying not to look disappointed that he wouldn't open up.

"By the way." He added. "You'll be needing this." He pulled a TARDIS key from his pocket and handed it to her.

"Really?" She gasped excitedly.

"Frequent fliers privilege." He smiled. "Like the phone. Thank you."

"Oh no. Mum!" Martha suddenly remembered, and phoned her mother. "Hello. Me again."

"Three calls in one day." Said Francine.

"Sorry about earlier." She said. "Over emotional. Mad day!"

"What are you doing tonight?" Her mother said casually. "Why don't you come round? I'll put something nice on."

"Right… tonight. I'll do my best. What day is it again?"

"Election day."  
>"Right. I'll be round for tea."<p>

"And what about…"

"I've got to go now. Love you. Bye."

Francine heard her ring off and turned to the woman in black, who was holding out an evidence bag.

"Is that all?" Francine placed the phone in the bag.

"For now. Have you voted?"

"Of course. Don't expect me to tell you who for."

The woman in black thought she could guess anyway. "Thank you for all you're doing Mrs Jones. Mr Saxon will be very pleased.

**Next time: The Sontaran Stratagem**


End file.
